AN: This actually ended up being delayed due to losing steam and an eventual rework. Basically, this fic and one other ended up straying too far from what the series is supposed to represent, so I scrapped a good chunk of it and restarted from there.

Anyhow, enjoy.

It's a while before the Annual Commemoration Ball in Atlas and Ruby is not sure if she can attend it without embarrassing herself in heels. Luckily, Weiss has a plan.

It started with a warmup.

As far back as the Beacon days, Weiss would take a pair of pointe shoes with her into training and remember those performances from when she'd first been taught. She'd then take off her usual wedge boots and put the shoes on before performing one of many routines she'd cast into her heart. Part of her fighting style involved precise footwork, and that sport was highly reliant on footing, so each warm up helped her keep it sharp.

However, there was always that feeling of someone watching.

She didn't pay much attention to it, but then she felt uncomfortable. She was all too familiar with that feeling, especially at home when she's gotten used to having friends and family disappear, all thanks to the White Fang. So, she spent less time in that training room.

At first.

Weiss had gotten used to feeling like she's about to get in danger, whether against her father, troublesome party invitees, or a Faunus. She had never had to fight off a would-be assassin, but she remembered witnessing the arrest of a Faunus servant who had started coming to work a week ago, who had murdered her beloved uncle, who had turned out to be working for the White Fang.

That night, and in the following years, Jacques made damn sure to instill the fear of a Faunus from the White Fang coming to get her.

And she never forgot.

Well, the threat never came. Not only in her last few years at the Schnee Manor, but also Beacon. It was at that point that Weiss realized just how worse her home situation was than she'd initially thought, and even then, it took her teammates growing uncomfortable around her and Blake running for that.

Only then, most of that fear and discomfort faded away into morbid curiosity over the months.

Along the way, she realized she could seize the opportunity to give the, in her mind, mysterious watcher a show, so she returned to what she'd previously done, except just a little longer. This became her modus operandi throughout the rest of her time at Beacon and even in her Atlas Academy residence era. She missed the ballet practice, but she never rusted in that respect.

Alas, that feeling of a watcher returned, along with a bit of the panic that came with it for a moment. But this time, Weiss investigated. So, she put on her pointe shoes and did the first couple steps of her routine... and stopped.

As though it were premeditated, her gaze landed upon Ruby, who was sitting down, possibly gushing all about her little dances in her head.

Ruby gushed all about her little dances, but before that, she panickingly stuttered over herself, unsure of what to say for she didn't expect to get caught. Weiss understood, but then her team leader let slip that sometimes, she felt like the "small" one out, and that for the coming Annual Commemoration Ball, she lamented that she'll have to wear those stupid lady stilts again.

Then Weiss offered her a deal.

According to the deal, Weiss would give Ruby a chance to build up her confidence and balance (and of course, height) if it means Ruby had a steady supply of cookies. At first, Ruby was confused and conflicted, perhaps even angered; why did Weiss want her to wear those ridiculous things? Does she even remember what happened back at the dance? On the other hand, cookies were her go-to comfort food, so if she backed out, she'd be missing out.

Then Weiss altered the deal by offering strawberries instead.

Strawberries, her actual favorite food.

She wanted to stay strong. Anything to avoid having to repeat her Beacon Dance troubles if it meant missing out on a week's worth of strawberry supply. That was fine; she can wait anyway.

Then Weiss instead promised strawberry-flavored cookies.

Ruby finally broke.

. . .

That night, Weiss walked out of the dorm, innocuously whistling. Ruby didn't get to witness what she was doing (probably because she was busy playing some fighting game), but she did notice that her boots had been replaced by a different pair.

Wait, were they replaced?

She squinted. She could have sworn something changed after all. One of the buckles was ever so slightly skewed, but nothing she couldn't just adjust. Whatever. For all she knew, Weiss probably inspected her boots for damage and chose to do nothing at all after understanding that she didn't like heels.

Come tomorrow, and Ruby put the boots on as usual. She didn't feel anything off.

At all.

In fact, it was almost exactly like yesterday; she dropped in with her friends, kicked Grimm butt, and laughed all about it on the way back to Atlas Academy. Even walking around, hanging out with Penny didn't seem all that different, either. But for some reason, she could reach higher places, even by a little. Another thing Ruby swore was off was that she stood equal at Weiss's height. Then again, she's been having her long-awaited growth spurt, so she blamed it all on that.

The moment it clicked came long after Weiss told her she was wearing her boots with those weird wedges called "lifts."

Lifts tall enough to boost her to Weiss's wedges-enhanced height.

"Huh-I–wh—what?!"

"Now tell me, Ruby," Weiss began. "Have you noticed anything different?"

"..."

"Well?"

Ruby blinked, staring at Weiss. "...I...I..." Safe to say, she wasn't going to say anything meaningful for the next couple seconds.

"Well. It appears that I have... choice words for someone—"

"N—No?!"

Weiss chuckled, even through her sheer disbelief. "I digress. I do, however, have another gift for you."

Ruby squinted when Weiss presented her a different set of boots. Knee-high, red laces at the front, two belts, red soles, and steel toes. Ruby squinted, but noticed something off. The boots had tiny heels, but they were part of its wedge soles.

Calculations ran in her head. 'Wait,' she thought, 'Weiss said I didn't notice anything different in stupid lady stilts?' Just the thought of her somehow finally walking just fine in heels gave her pause; was Weiss genuinely believing in her ability to at least cope in those shoes, however nonexistent it is? Or was she setting her up for humiliation? Was she going to have to wear those ungodly tall stilettos again?

Why, then, was Weiss doing all this in the first place?

"In case you were wondering, 'why are you doing this?' I'll get this out of the way:" Weiss explained. "It's to ensure you can look good for the Annual Commemoration Ball while following the dress code. Now tell me: did you ever prepare for those shoes you wore a year ago?"

Oh, right. Yang took her to Célestin Langdon to buy a pair of expensive stilettos for the annual Beacon Dance, but Ruby didn't recall doing any sort of practicing in 'em, only daydreaming about being on the phone while in the stilettos. In fact, Yang asked her if she was fine not doing any training or practicing, to which Ruby said she'll do just fine.

Big mistake that was.

"Y—...No..?"

Weiss nodded. "Very well. I'll stick to my promise of giving you an actual chance at dignity." She then picked up the box the boots came in, then put them in before presenting Ruby the box. "Which is why I'm easing you in first. Those boots of yours that I planted one-and-a-half-inch lifts inside? That was a practice run. These, on the other hand, will be your actual first trial."

"No wonder why you seemed so short..."

Her eyes widened. For a brief moment, Ruby swore she'd pouted. "And—And I'd like to see you try them for a change tomorrow."

Ruby raised her finger. "I—"

"I'll give you more strawberry-flavored cookies if you promise to try them tomorrow."

"Gah!" Ruby panicked, her already bated breaths turning frantic. "O–Okay, I will, just gimme!"

"Good."

. . .

It might've been placebo, but Ruby didn't feel as stable in the boots Weiss gifted her. At first, anyway.

This time, she patrolled a vulnerable part of the Mantlean walls. Ruby felt herself leaning back to try to compensate, but sometimes, she would end up overcorrecting to the point where she'd tip over, forcing her to take a few steps back to correct for that mistake. It was at this point that she realized: she was being dumb.

So, she focused on her mission. Everything went smoothly once again, save for the occasional slight chill at her knees.

Yeah, that took half the day to get used to.

Later that sunset, Ruby got herself a new set of clothes to celebrate her progress. In particular, she paired a new set of red 1.5-inch Mary Jane-style character shoes to go with a new casual outfit, itself a black-and-red wool sweater, black pencil skirt, tights, and those shoes. Usually, she would have worn boots with a more punk outfit, but today was not that day.

"I can't believe it," a wide-eyed Yang said, "you're doing just fine."

Blake was similarly surprised. "Didn't you call those 'stupid lady stilts' a year ago?"

Ruby chuckled. "Smart lady stilts now!" she exclaimed, casually strutting down the sidewalk as her two teammates continued to watch in mild shock and awe.

The next few weeks was a repeating cycle of Weiss easing her into progressively taller pairs that, thankfully, she didn't have to wear on duty. One and a half inches became two. Two became three. Three became four. Four became five. At that point, Weiss wouldn't have blamed Ruby if she switched back to her normal boots, which she did plenty of times. Not only that, but she started actively guiding Ruby through the process whenever she wore heels later on.

For instance, she let her hold her arm. Weiss also gave her lessons and homework in walking in taller pairs of heels. She'd even offered to teach her to dance in heels, but Ruby, fearing that she would embarrass herself again, declined.

So Ruby challenged her to a spar instead.

Weiss stipulated that the two of them spar in heels, which Ruby was reluctant towards at first. Of course, another batch of strawberry cookies made quick work of that hesitance, although Ruby chose to wear her three-inch boots.

Predictably, it didn't go well in the first few moments. Ruby tried her usual tricks, but tumbled across the floor. To compensate, she stood in place more often, using Crescent Rose to shoot Weiss off her Glyphs.

However, Weiss had another trick up her sleeve.

Gravity Glyphs appeared under Ruby's feet. As soon as she realized that Weiss was about to throw her into the air, she burst into petals, homing right at her. In a panic, Weiss formed a quick wall in front of her, but Ruby saw that coming as well, so she split into three smaller clusters, all of which went around the wall before it had even formed.

What followed was a divekick to the face, then high kicks against the chin.

Weiss, with both her head and pride aching, couldn't believe what she was seeing: Ruby was doing well in heels. However, this was only the first time Ruby gained the upper hand in this fight; sooner or later her steam would run out, so she had to make it quick.

Thus, the fighting went on. Ruby was dead set on proving Weiss that she indeed can fight in lady stilts after her chance encounter with Cinder as imaginary versions of her teammates cheering her on in her head.

So the two kept pushing, harder, and harder, and harder. Slowly, Ruby let go of her worries, breaking back into her usual moves and strategies while Weiss methodically picked apart her plan step by step.

Eventually, their Auras were dangerously close to 15%.

Ruby found herself standing against Weiss, who was walking up to her with her Arma Gigas summon beside her. Crescent Rose had only a few rounds left, and she had to do something quick. Frantically, she looked for an opening—any opening—to the degree that her plan exploded into numerous branching possibilities, some of which involved finally besting Weiss...

Not that it mattered a few seconds later. Ruby's heel caught onto something and, as a result, she tripped backward, landing on her bottom.

There it was; the dreaded 15%.

Just like that, it was over.

"Not bad." Weiss offered Ruby a hand, smiling. "Not. Bad. At all."

"Gaaaah..!" Ruby stood up on her own and stormed off, Crescent Rose stored on her side as she promptly took off her boots and threw them at a nearby wall.

"Ruby, what are you—"

"...Stupid lady stilts!"

Ruby took Crescent Rose off its clip and holding it like a beating stick. Then she got on her knees, raised her weapon in its inactive form, then started bashing.

"You make me look bad!" she shouted, aiming for the heels as they lost their form and, eventually, strength with each hit. Then, as she made her last hits, the boots eventually had their heels snap off, leaving her with a pair of now-unusable footwear. She let out a long, exasperated sigh, then wearily stood against the wall and slid down.

Suddenly, she dreaded the Atlas ball.

She didn't feel like going again. She didn't feel like showing off her future looks to the Atlesian populace if it was gonna get overshadowed by her awkward stumbling. She didn't feel like she had the time to prepare. If only she had accepted the invitation to practice dancing.

If only.

But she had to push on.

"Weiss..." Ruby gulped. "Do you think I can do it?"

Weiss sat down with Ruby. "What do you mean? It might have looked like flying too close to the sun, but the fact that you got there at all?" She looked at her and smiled. "It told me anything is possible."

And then Ruby was reminded of when she'd first met Weiss: she'd little, if any, patience for her and her little antics. Now, she was the most patient with her. Where they'd once butted heads, they had come to a mutual understanding and respect, even if they still disagreed from time to time.

For example, the way they fought. Ruby respected how Weiss fought with only a simple Dust-equipped rapier and Glyphs, even if she'd felt tempted to give her a bazooka for a future birthday. Weiss respected how Ruby managed to make such an unwieldy, impractical weapon look scary. She didn't even use the much-better war scythe form, for crying out loud! Why couldn't she have just made that Crescent Rose's default form?

Then again, it worked out well for harvesting Grimm ashes, so of course she let it slide.

"Can I tell you something, Weiss?" Ruby asked.

"Sure."

Ruby took a deep breath. "You... really take your time with me today, don't you."

Weiss nodded in agreement. "I wouldn't have expected that in a hundred years, yet here we are. You can thank my father for part of it, however."

Somehow, that last statement made sense considering all she'd heard of him by this point, but she still wanted to know how. "Why?"

Weiss winced and hesitated, and Ruby realized she'd touched a sensitive spot just from that alone. She was about to apologize when Weiss took a deep breath and spoke up.

"My father... doesn't like to wait," she explained. "He would want everything to be done as soon and neatly as possible. But, my sister and tutors made sure I was getting the proper education, so they gave me time. It was then that I'd started realizing how... normal they seemed compared to him."

She blinked. 'Her dad was impatient, too?' she thought.

"So why am I telling you about all this? Because I was once like him, in a couple ways."

"You wanted not to deal with me," she said.

"Because I let impatience get the best of me, just like him."

"And you snapped at me for the littlest mistakes."

"So did he, to us. And every time, he expected us to say 'sorry.'"

Ruby shook her head. She knew Tai wasn't the best dad all the time, but he still tried his best. That alone was more of a claim to #1 dad in the world than anything Jacques could ever wish for. Not only that, but what Weiss said further put into perspective how she was back in their first semester together. No wonder why she was so snippy back then; she was still coming off fresh from her frustrations and internalizing her father's demands.

"Wow," she stated, matter-of-factly, "what a jerk."

"Believe me. There's more."

Ruby shook her head. She was fortunate that Weiss was in safer hands, but she could not ignore what had happened back in the past. Still, she was with a family she found comfort in at last, and that was what mattered. "I mean..." She smiled. "You're here, away from him."

"True."

"And you don't have to worry about him anymore."

"For now."

Ruby frowned. She couldn't wait for Weiss to be totally free of him. 'Of course.'

"So," said Weiss, "where were we?"

Suddenly, Ruby had snapped back to the heels she had just destroyed, and she was now deep in thought about it. To her, it kind of felt... cathartic. As if it was a way of getting back at Weiss, who had essentially bribed her into tolerating, then liking lady stilts to begin with. But then part of her realized: wasn't she trying to do her a big, big favor?

If so, then why was Weiss—oh right. She was very patient with her, duh.

"Ruby?"

"Gah–!" Ruby breathed heavily. "Wh–Weiss, I'm—"

"There's no need to apologize;" she began with a smile, "I already forgive you."

She blinked, looking at Weiss weird, then took a deep breath, looking away. "So..."

"So?"

"If you really want me to wear those, then can you please be with me?" Ruby pleaded. "Just in case?"

"You do not have to wear high heels to the ball if you don't want to, but by all means, I'll be happy to be right by your side."

Ruby nodded, then as she pondered over her teammate's suggestion, she remembered what she and Weiss had accomplished together: in less than a month, Ruby had not only gotten way better at heels than the last time she really wore them, but also incorporated them into one of her outfits in some form. Even if she needed help from Weiss later on, she'd figured out how Weiss fights in them: footwork, balance, and instinct.

"Yeah..." She looked up to Weiss and smiled, getting up. "Yeah, that'd be great!"

Weiss nodded back. "Then so be it."

. . .

Ruby and Weiss were walking together on the night of the Annual Commemoration Ball.

The former was wearing a dress in red, buttoned at the front and tied at the back like a corset, and came with a silk drape that wrapped around the sides of her shoulders. She'd also bought a red rose to wear on her hair and a rose-themed corsage on her left hand, as well as black eyeliner to further complete the deal. For the rest of her dress, she wore dark tights and a new pair of red 3-inch tall stilettos.

The latter, meanwhile, was wearing a white dress to go with her red gem necklace, white lace opera gloves, and a pair of white stilettos with ballet-style ribbons tied at the ankle. Her hair was styled into an offset bun with her crown on it like usual.

Weiss checked to see how Ruby was doing, and indeed, her walk had become more refined, more effortless than it already had been.

She smiled, then brought her team leader into a huddle with her arm behind her back and her hand on the shoulder.

Ruby returned the favor.